Gianluca Prestianni Denies Use Of ‘Racially Insulting’ Language About Vinicius Junior At UEFA Champions League Match

Gianluca Prestianni denies using racially insulting language towards Vinicius Junior. 

Prestianni and Benfica took on Junior and Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid won the game 1-0. During the broadcast, it appeared that Prestianni called Junior a “monkey.” 

Junior seemed to think that’s what Prestianni said, too. He posted a caption on Instagram that many thought was a message to Prestianni.

“Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to cover their mouths with their shirts to show how they are weak,” Junior said

Prestianni strongly denies any wrongdoing. He also took to social media to tell his side of the story. 

“I want to clarify that at no point did I direct racist insults at the player Vinicius Júnior, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he thought he heard,” Prestianni said 

His club has also come to his defense. They said that Prestianni is a part of a “defamation campaign” and that there’s no possible way that Junior could have heard what he said. Prestianni’s shirt was covering his mouth during the alleged remark. 

Junior was born in Brazil and is of Cameroonian descent. He was signed to Real Madrid’s Division B team in 2018. However, he was promoted to the La Liga team after just eight games. He has played 23 games this season and has eight goals. 

Real Madrid and Benfica will meet up again on Feb. 25 in the second leg of their playoff matchup. In this game, Real Madrid will have home advantage. They play at Estadio Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain. 

UEFA will investigate the incident. According to their rulebook, UEFA has a “zero-tolerance” policy towards racism and racist remarks on or off the field. Any player or official found guilty of making a racist remark is suspended for a minimum of 10 matches. 

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Article by Matthew Mendives